Reaction to the election.

Sunday was round 2 of the French elections. Up until that point the most common opinions that I had heard were, "I'm afraid of Sarkozy winning" and "Anyone but Sarkozy." I had heard only a couple of people say that they were actually going to support Sarko. Sarko being the candidate for the right. None the less 45% of the french electorate voted in his favor. 15% abstained from voting. Election celebrations for the right take place at Place de la Concorde and celebrations for the left take place at La Bastille. However as the left lost Bastille was the sight of protest. The French are used to protests so bars stayed open until the riot cops started gassing the streets. As the gas started filling the streets resturants and bars closed their door with patrons inside to wait for the air to clear. This ment for some friends of mine staying at the bar until 2am. "Les flics" were dressed in full body armor which reminded me of mid-evil armor just made of more modern materials instead of metal. The most impressive thing to me was the way that the Police stood in their lines while the protesters hung out in the streets and the observers ate and drank in the bars all waiting for the bricks and bottles to be thrown and the gas canisters to be opened. They ended up having to wait at least three hours for the action. Enought time for two or three beers I guess. Decent business for the bars.